Tyler Wahl scored 16 points and held Minnesota Golden Gophers’ leading scorer, forward Dawson Garcia, to 10 points as the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team defeated their rivals 61-59 in a tight road matchup Tuesday.
Wisconsin came into this game after a commanding 91-79 victory against the Indiana Hoosiers Jan. 19 at the Kohl Center behind Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit’s 26-point performance.
The beginning of the first half was a dogfight for the Badgers as they traded baskets with the Gophers and kept the game within six points. However, Wisconsin pulled away from Minnesota with nine minutes left in the first half after Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit made back-to-back 3-point shots to give the Badgers momentum to finish with a 10-point lead.
The Golden Gophers are not unfamiliar with trailing at the half — Minnesota trailed at halftime in all seven Big Ten games they played so far this season.
Aside from Wisconsin’s offensive dominance in the first half, the Badgers prevented Minnesota from finding a flow in their offensive scheme and locked down Garcia, the Gophers’ star player.
Wahl defended Garcia — who has five games with 20 or more points scored this season — the entirety of the game in a physical matchup, denying Garcia free range in the paint.
Minnesota rallied in the first six minutes of the second half to slash Wisconsin’s lead down to one.
Gophers guard Elijiah Hawkings came up big in the second half, in which he scored 13 of his 16 points while making three of the Golden Gophers’ seven 3-point shots.
However, free throws proved paramount in this matchup as Minnesota only made 38% of its 13 free-throw attempts. When the game came down to the wire and was tied with 30 seconds left, Gophers guard Braeden Carrington grabbed an offensive rebound and got fouled on his put-back layup attempt, making one of his two free-throw attempts as a result.
Wisconsin took advantage of Minnesota’s free-throw shooting struggles and went up by three with five seconds left in the game thanks to Wahl and Badgers guard AJ Storr, who had a double-double. The Badgers decided to foul Gophers guard Mike Mitchell Jr. off the inbound. Mitchell made the first free throw, missed the second and rebounded his missed attempt but missed the buzzer beater as it rimmed out.
In a postgame press conference, Wahl said free throws are crucial when a game comes down to the wire.
"It saves us in games like this where every point matters," Wahl said. "We've got a lot of guys who can put it in confidently."
Wisconsin handed Minnesota their fourth straight loss and Wahl, the Minnesota native, moved to 7-1 in his career against the Gophers. The Badgers improve to 15-4 overall on the season and 7-1 in conference play.
The Badgers return home Friday to face the Michigan State Spartans at the Kohl Center.
